Sugary Days
by Chiby Angel-chan
Summary: UPDATED, A SPECIAL LONGER CHAPTER! He always said that whatever path she would choose, it was fine. It was not a lie, but it was not the truth either. And it happened quite often, on their honey-like days. Pure romance of ReixAya.
1. Prelude

**A/N: Slap me first. There. Satisfied? Okay, Chiby is back for good:) -slapped harder-**

**Disclaimer: This story contains spoilers for episode 35 and 38 of the anime series. And still, Super GALS! doesn't belong to me.**

* * *

That day, the guy Rei once saw talking so intimately with her at Hounan's Culture Festival, came over just to see him at his workplace.

That nut brown-haired guy, with his green orbs, told Rei that the fragile dark-haired lass-who happened to be his girlfriend—seemed so troubled and even said that she wanted a breakup. In the end, despite all the things that Katase guy uttered as if to clear things up between the two of them, Rei satirically declared, _"Just ignore her". _**  
**

He really was the usual self-centered Rei Otohata who would never get swayed by things people told him to do. Damn that Katase guy with all his somewhat-some-sage-suggestions, telling him to be "nicer" to her. Why would he, especially when he did not feel like he did something wrong in the first place? He did not do any harm anyway. Besides, it was not like making her cry over and over again had become a serious crime to be discussed about.

And no, he did not—at least, he never meant to. She whimpered on her own while all he did back then was simply speak out what he needed to say, and it was not that much. Well said.

But as much as he seemed not to care about it, there was a hidden pretension he would not dare to say as well. And it peculiarly blasted off as the nut brown-haired guy initiated the unpleasant atmosphere by telling him some new things he never thought he would ever hear.

**"**_**She was saying she wants to break up with you, so I advised her against it, saying she shouldn't grow reckless. Why don't you be nicer to her?**" _

That timid Aya Hoshino could actually open up her heart to someone else—even telling about their relationship issues—and he found out from _that _someone else's mouth instead. Indeed he did not see anything wrong for her breaking up with him, seeing that she might have reached her vertex of patience. He already warned her that he would probably hurt her even without realizing it, and yes, he did anyway. She failed being adjusted to him, concerning that she had turned out to be exaggeratedly insecure that he did not even want to involve himself anymore.

**"_Or do you plan to break up with her?"_**

He had not been thinking that much. He was just simply dejected by her cowardliness.

**"_Seriously, how do you feel about her?"_**

Why would he admit it to a stranger?

* * *

When they coincidentally met, she stayed stubborn. She said nothing but an apology. No, he would not respect that kind of attitude. He would never feel sorry for such a feeble girl who kept asking for forgiveness while she did not really have to.

"I don't really care, but if you've got something to say, why don't you say it to my face?"

If there was ever a sacred person who could interpret his words, she would hear this statement instead;_"If you really want to break up with me, why don't you say it to me directly?" _

Of course, she was too pessimistic to ever catch it that way. No professions? He had better leave earlier.

There was no use of expecting a truthful avowal from a tongue-tied girlfriend, after all.

* * *

There was also this vexatious moment when Kotobuki, Yamazaki and Tatsukichi bumped into him when he was busy on the way to his workplace just to report something which was nothing new in his ears at all.

"So she's found a boyfriend? If that's what she wants to do, I don't see anything wrong about it."

Very typical of the egoistical Rei Otohata, who did not seem to have any special attention to anyone else but himself. Even if Aya was to cheat on him for real, he would see it as nothing but a simple, well decision of hers.

Everything she did to try not to be a burden to him, was frankly his _real_ burden. She always held back things she wanted to say just because she was afraid if that would constrain him. He knew it, and it burdened him instead.

So he felt nothing wrong if she was able to get a new boyfriend without breaking up with him explicitly. He really did.

Along with curses and scorns from Kotobuki, he merely walked away.

* * *

It kind of pissed him off that people kept blaming him for everything that occurred to Aya lately. How was she doing by the way, considering more of different people-whether it was her possibly new boyfriend or her friends—insisted on telling him to make up with her or something like that?

Now that he thought about it, he had not given Aya a little more chance to tell him the truth. The last time they met, he got easily irked by her incertitude. He did not give her much time to actually speak. Perhaps if he gave her some, everything would be solved.

So he phoned her but still, he got no answer. She did not pick up her cell phone (and it was beyond his prejudice that in fact, Katase was the one who secretively took her cell phone to reject his call).

And it took everything he thought he could do in this troublesome circumstance. Seeing that she did not answer his call, he nonchalantly put his cell phone back into his pocket and continued his way to his workplace.

Just doing an unanswered call and he gave it up.

* * *

"Did Hoshino-san come by?"

The certain nut brown-haired guy appeared again while he was working, asking the same definite thing—which was always about her. He gave the guy an honest answer and he got protested once more and questioned if he was worried. He was demanded—yes, it sounded more like a demand to him now—to treat her with more consideration. And so on.

The stormily overcastted moment came to an end as Aya bobbed up with her usual dimmest look. "Katase-kun, it's enough."

Katase turned to face her and apologized but she turned away and desperately left the place. He ran to chase after her.

As the rain began to humefy the ground he was standing on, Rei Otohata merely kept his composure, watching the two of them disappearing from his view, which ultimately indicated him an unsaid goodbye.

Such a long way to go to regain his breath.

* * *

Since then, they never met each other again. He had not seen her for three weeks long-not even a glance. No one came arguing about Aya anymore to him ever since he saw her going away followed by that Katase guy. Well, it was not hard to guess that she had begun a more special relationship with that green-orbed guy at last. That was her choice, he supposed.

One day, while Rei was waiting for his morning train as usual, he heard a familiar voice of a girl inside a train which just stopped by. "I'm getting off, I'm getting off!"

He did not know what had got into him, but he swiftly grasped the girl's arm to help her out of the train. As the door to the train closed automatically and began leaving the station speedily, he let go of the girl's arm and told her not to be spacing out so she would not miss her stop.

"Long time no see," Rei casually greeted her.

The dark-haired girl turned away and wondered if he had heard some things from their friends. He gave her a _"yes",_ and she smiled in relief with closed eyes. Just then, the train he was waiting for had come and before it stopped by, he stated, "If that's what you've decided, then it's fine."

She initially seemed to be kind of astonished at what he said but then, she nodded and gave him a radiantly sincere smile. He smiled back at her and left.

**"**_**It's fine"**. _Yes, that was not a lie.

But that was not the truth either.

* * *

"Ah, it's coming again."

"What?"

An innocent smile. "An airmail letter from Katase-kun."

Rei frowned as she animatedly ripped off the envelope and took the letter out. She was about to read the letter when he asked, "So he keeps contacting you since then?"

"Well, sometimes. We're still good friends after all." The dark-haired girl said before turning back her sight to the letter again. It did not take a long time for her to blush profoundly as she caught him staring at her. "I-It's not like I'm cheating on Otohata-kun or anything, right?"

Rei averted his eyes. "I'm not even thinking about that."

There they were, having a peaceful Saturday afternoon at Aya's house—studying together on the terrace, to be precise. They both were busy paying their attention to their chemistry textbooks with some complications they needed to discuss about until the airmail sort of got in their way.

Still with a freakish pink hue on her pale face, Aya continued reading the letter and smiled with a sigh as she finished perusing the last sentence of the letter. "It's a good thing that Katase-kun is doing fine as always."

"Hm," was all Rei said as a response.

Aya began chattering, "I kind of envy him that he can go studying abroad. Studying abroad was once my dream and I tend to start feeling that passion again every time Katase-kun tells me how fun it is in his letter."

"It's so like you to be carried away so easily." Rei shrugged.

"I-I'm not," Aya gritted her teeth. "Not anymore."

"Or so I heard."

"So Otohata-kun doesn't agree if I get to study abroad someday?"

"It doesn't matter what I think."

"Of course it does."

"Lacking of confidence again, aren't you?"

"It's not like that."

"Why do you ask?"

"Because…" Aya gulped and flushed deeply before saying, "…Otohata-kun is my boyfriend."

Rei let out a sigh. "You sure have grown more stubborn these days."

Aya ignored his statement and asked again, "So?"

Another sigh from the lad. "If that's what you've decided…"

"…it's fine?" Aya resumed.

Rei narrowed his eyes. "You shouldn't have asked, then."

"So it's really fine for Otohata-kun?"

"It's not fine if you keep asking about what I think of your own decision."

"I see…" Aya arched her brow and looked down to the ground. _So he's fine with me going apart from him. _

Silence filled the couple as both of them paid their attention back to the chemistry textbooks. Just then, Aya could not hold herself to take a glance at Rei—only to get herself blush frantically for the umpteenth time as she unintentionally found that he did the same.

He was practically looking at her, and he had that unusually collected yet mesmerizing smirk on his face she could barely forget.

It was simply because she somehow felt like the smirk was silently telling her that there was a sweet, simple lie hidden in his previous reply.

"P-Please don't make me get my hopes up, Otohata-kun."

And God knew how Rei Otohata tried his best to suppress his chuckle that time.

* * *

**A/N: I'm not so sure whether I should make this story into a oneshot or a multi-chaptered one instead ._. The ideas just popped up in my head when I re-watched the anime series, seeing that I've been uber bored as a new freshman:p Yep, I'm telling the truth, I go to the University of Indonesia now, yay!^^ **

**Okay, enough bragging-.- **

**Again, about the continuation, it depends on your feedbacks :p Yes, you. Go press that review button^^ Oh come on, don't be so nervous just because I'm a hypocrite who used to say that I quit writing fan fictions, alright? I'll continue writing if you really want me to^^ –smacked by the readers-**

**Fine, I was just kidding. The parts of Rei-Aya-Katase were nothing but intermezzos (?) and Katase won't appear again, which means...get yourself a heart peacemaker from the nearest hospital because this is NOT a oneshot! So do review and thanks a lot!^^**

**Chiby Angel-chan **


	2. Sugarless Morning

**Disclaimer: GALS ****© Mihona Fujii**

* * *

Aya Hoshino was perseveringly determined, intelligent, and naturally beautiful. Unlike Ran Kotobuki or Miyu Yamazaki, simplicity was her creditably style. Sure that 'unpretentious' style of hers did not make her less attractive as a gal, not even when Otohata-kun once told her that it was easier for him to go out with such lively and easy-going girls like Ran. She had come to love herself the way she was and even kept trying to be more confident with her inner and outer appearance.

Aya was totally fine with the way she was now and she felt certain about it—until that trivial yet withering moment occurred. It just happened this afternoon when she hung out with Ran and Miyu at Shibuya. The three of them felt so freed and preoccupied since it was such a peacefully shiny day on spring break.

"_This spring break sure knows how to make people real healthy!" Miyu stretched her arms. "The weather is super nice, too."_

"_You bet, unless I never had this bothersome flower dust allergy—ah choo!" Ran sneezed and scratched her nose. "Jeez, uber pissed!" _

_Aya hurriedly handed Ran a handkerchief. "Here, Ran. Use this." _

"_Ah, thanks, Aya," said Ran as she took Aya's handkerchief and wiped her nose with it. Just then, she tilted her head and gave Aya an astonished look. "Say, you look a lot healthier, Aya." _

"_I-Is that so?" Aya flickered._

"_You sure are!" Ran giggled and pinched Aya's cheeks animatedly. "Gee, you look uber chubby that it makes me want to keep playing with your cheeks." _

_Unfortunately, Ran was a complete failure to make her words sound like sincere compliments to Aya because they stabbed the innocent gal's heart instead. They really did. _

'_Uber…chubby…' Aya thought languidly. 'Does it mean that I have…turned…fat?'_

And now, there the restless dark-haired girl was, standing before a weighing scale in her room with a frightened look. Slowly, she stepped on the weighing scale and wished that Ran was completely wrong about her turning "healthier" or "chubby"; only to get herself widen her eyes in a total disenchantment as she looked down to check the scales.

_Two kilograms… _Aya thought hopelessly. _Come to think of it…I guess I always studied with candies and sweet biscuits lately. So…so it's true that I've…? _

Not long afterwards, Aya was exaggeratedly surprised by a sound of para-para's theme song from her mobile phone. Still in shock, she picked it up with trembling hands after getting her boyfriend's name displayed on the screen. "H-Hello, Otohata-kun."

"_Hello. I just need your exact confirmation for our plan tomorrow."_

"Oh, tomorrow? S-Sure! But…" Aya trailed off, "…I-I was thinking to change the activity."

"_The activity?"_

"Yes, but it's only if Otohata-kun agrees, though. Mm, would you mind if we do…j-jogging…in the morning?"

"_Jogging? Well, it's usually hard for me to wake up early in holidays…" _Aya heard him sigh. _"…but I guess I don't mind." _

"It's okay! Uh? N-No, I mean…I-I'm so sorry about that, but I'll make sure to give you a morning call tomorrow so you can wake up earlier."

"_Alright. See you tomorrow then. Good night."_

"Good night."

Aya sighed resignedly when she shifted her gaze to the mirror. "I even invoked Otohata-kun…stupid me. It's not like he would even care if he noticed the increasing of my weight, right?" The helpless lass mumbled to herself.

It only took approximately ten seconds for the hopeless dark-haired gal to change her defenseless expression into the determined one as the words Ran said conducted through her head. There was no going back. She just could not let herself turn out to be like what she did not expect to.

* * *

Aya headed to the house yard in rush right after the doorbell rang. She unlocked the gate, getting out of the house, locking the gate again and giving the certain cool brown-haired guy a sheepish smile. She could not help but think that it was kind of screwy to see him wearing a casual t-shirt, training trousers and a pair of sporty sneakers. He really was prepared for today, much to her joy.

"So, where are we going? I think this vast homesite is adequate to jog around." Rei said.

"I do too. Well, let's—" Aya was cut off as the sky began pouring the drizzle.

"Uh…it's mizzling?" The dark-haired lass looked up at the drizzly sky. "I guess it'll stop—" Again, she was unable to speak more as the little drizzle suddenly burst into torrential rain that the two of them reflexively ran inside Aya's house to take a shelter.

Aya guided her boyfriend to the living room and asked him to have a seat on the couch, assuming that the rain would not stop for a while. Rei seated himself while keeping his view around the room. "Are your parents home?"

"They have been off to work." Aya murmured guiltily, "I'm so sorry, Otohata-kun. I-I have made you wake up very early and get you here but yet—"

"It's not your fault. We'll just have to wait for a moment." Rei lightly said, sending relief to Aya's previous wrought-up feelings.

"Would you like some green tea and chicken porridge for breakfast, Otohata-kun?" Aya offered before heading to the kitchen. Rei responded with his usual, simple 'hn'.

While waiting for the 'morning repast', Rei discerned a stack of magazines on a table in front of him and took one of them randomly. He opened the first page and found Aya's name on the upper corner part of the page. It was quite obvious that the magazine belonged to her—that gals-thingy magazine.

_Wait. Why am I even taking a look at this stuff? _Rei was about to put the magazine back before he noticed that there was a bookmark slipped between two pages of it. He merely flipped through the pages and found an article about women's weight issues. He also found some lines of the article get circled and underlined with red marker—which were, conspicuously, Aya's handwritings.

"Sorry for making you wait." The owner of the magazine ultimately came and put the dishes on the table without any suspicion on the magazine Rei was holding.

"Thank you." Rei put the magazine back and took a sip of his green tea before straightforwardly uttering, "Say, I didn't know you have interest in learning about issues of weight."

Aya nearly split out her chicken porridge as a reflexive reaction to what Rei said. She hesitantly cast a glance at him and gulped hard. What was with the sudden question? How did he find out? "W-W-What? W-Weight?"

"Oh, sorry. I skimmed through a magazine of yours without permission." Rei scratched the back of his neck.

"It's okay." Aya flashed a vapid smile and promptly changed the subject, "T-The chicken porridge! How does it taste? This is not the first time I cook it but I'm not really sure if it's an appetizing one for your taste."

"It's sort of…insipid." Rei nonchalantly muttered without facing his girlfriend. "Sugarless green tea and tasteless chicken porridge… Are you in a diet or something?"

The insensitive brown-haired guy spoke again with a smirk, "Just kidding. They're good, I knew you made these all on purpose because I dislike sweet—Aya?" He paused when he saw the said girl crying all of a sudden.

_Was my joke too much? _Rei began losing his composure on his inner mind. "Hey, why are you crying?"

"I-I…" Aya sobbed. Her face began turning bright red because of her tearful emotion. "…I'm sorry I end up crying like this. I didn't want Otohata-kun to know, b-but…"

That answer contributed nothing but delivering him more flummoxed thought. "What are you talking about?"

Aya hastily wiped away her tears and shook her head. "I know…I'm exaggerating. This is too baseless to even make someone cry. I-I really am…trying to decrease my weight." She admitted, blushing profusely.

A perplexed frown rose on Rei's forehead. "What for? With that skinny figure of yours…"

"But my weight…it really is increasing. Two kilograms, that is." Aya resumed, "Ran also said that I have turned chubby."

Before Rei was able to convey a word, Aya quickly talked again, "I-I understand, you're going to say something like, _'You shouldn't have gone along with what others said so easily'_ or _'That's so pathetic of you to wage a struggle for something unwarranted'…_ I know, but I just can't—"

"So that's why you asked me to go jogging," Rei cupped his chin, pondering comprehensively. "I see. That sounds normal, though."

"Uh?"

"It's fine."

Aya widened her eyes in disbelief. "F-For real?"

Rei took a tissue that was formerly served with the mug of green tea to purge Aya's wet, reddened face—only to get her blush even more. "But you shouldn't have cried, either."

Aya nodded. She shyly grabbed Rei's right hand which was currently wiping her face with the tissue. "M-My cheeks. Do they really feel…chubby?"

Rei blinked twice in puzzlement but then, he brought the two of his hands to Aya's cheeks and pinched them lightly. "Don't you mean, 'tender'?"

"I-It's the same term." Aya grumbled.

"Well, if I'm to tell you not to do a diet and stay like this, what will you do?" Rei questioned, still not letting go of her cheeks.

"No, I don't want to stay like this." Aya shook her head, looking innocently. "I can't let myself grow fat."

"Even if I say that these pretty-stuffed-cheeks of yours are completely fine?"

Aya narrowed her eyes. The flush on her face became worse. "O-Otohata-kun…"

Rei sighed and patted Aya on the head. _I can never understand women's problems, _Rei satirically thought. He looked at the window and heaved another big sigh at the ceaseless rain.

"Otohata-kun?" Aya called.

"I don't think the rain's gonna stop soon." Rei brushed a hand through his hair. "Do you have another plan?"

Aya shook her head once again, making Rei smirk and say, "Let's bake sugar-free cookies together. My mother always bakes them every day for morning snacks."

"O-Otohata-kun can bake cookies?"

"A little."

"I-I never knew." Aya beamed. "Sure! So, what ingredients do we need? I only have a pack of flour, some eggs, sugar, butter, fresh milk, vanilla powder in my kitchen. Is that enough?"

"Yep," said Rei, getting up from the couch and offering Aya a hand to help her up. Her cheeks flushed pink as she took his hand to get up as well.

Hand in hand, the couple walked to the kitchen. Rei focused his view straight to the front while Aya, beside him, was glancing at him with a loving smile. How she liked this guy a lot. "Otohata-kun."

"Hm?"

"Thank you very much." Aya said, cracking an affectionate smile at him. It was such an innocently blunt yet unbearably sweet smile that even the stoic Rei had to struggle to keep himself in control. Perhaps her smile was the only sweet thing that was able to please him.

_It's her house and her parents are not here. Don't do anything out of control. _Rei inwardly snarled himself when a slight thought of grabbing Aya and kissing her skulked through his manly head.

Aya, on the other hand, did not really think of anything until the feeling of her hand being tightened by Rei's grip attained her sensory of touch like electricity. But she remained smiling blissfully anyway.

It just tasted really, really sweet that she did not even mind if it would send an indirect influence to her current issue towards sweets.

* * *

**A/N: Chou sorry for the late update and such a short chappie -_- I guess I should've warned you guys beforehand. From now on, don't expect such freshly quick updates from me because my new life as a university student keeps me, like, tremendously busy. Probably this is karma for what I said in the previous chapter -_- Real sorry for getting your hopes up, beautiful readers^^" But I'll keep updating when I have some spare time^^**

**Special thanks to nn-anom, ilovepurple, spacegirl2818, dyalicious, kimxronx4eva, sakura bila-chan, StarryDendrtites, deerburning, Alice Jane, LovelyCatGirl not logged in and regulusgal ^^**

**To my dear friend, dyalicious, heck yes, I'm taking psychology. It's uber fun! Yep, thank you, sweety-poo:)**

**And deerburning, true, I'm a natural Indonesian. Hehe, thank you, it really was enough to spend me tons of tears to get into that university:") Wow, so you're studying overseas? Good luck with that!:) **

**Lotta love for all of you! Revieeeeew! **

**Chiby Angel-chan **


	3. That Sweetly Pure Girlfriend

**Disclaimer: GALS! ****© Mihona Fujii**

* * *

"Shoo, shoo! For the last time, ladies, fan girls are forbidden in this record store!"

"Jeez, you're no fun, old man!" The three of tanned gals involuntarily left the record store—or in other words, Rei Otohata's workplace—after receiving a routine expulsion from Rei's boss. He seemed to be severely allergic to such fan girls that he did not even care if they at least bought something from his store.

The tasseled boss let out a frustrated sigh. "Man, they never learned. You sure have been through many oppressive days with some kind of obnoxious chicks trying to take advantages of you everywhere, huh, Rei? Why don't you quit being a model?"

Rei shrugged in response to his boss. He was busy fixing a box of unsold cassettes until his boss neared him and added, "You've got a permanent part-time job here already. Plus, you also do DJ-ing. Being a celebrity will give you nothing but troublesome fan girls. How does your girlfriend retain her patience all this time anyway?"

The brown-haired guy subconsciously stopped moving his hands through the cassettes. He remained silent for a moment. Then he sounded a 'humph'—a suppression of his chuckle, much to his boss' surprise. "What's wrong?"

"Sorry." Rei paid his attention back to the cassettes and uttered, "It's nothing, really."

"Ah! You're remembering something about your girlfriend, aren't you?" Rei's boss grinned evilly, nudging the elbow of his employee. "Does it have something to do with _my_ record store? Just tell me the whole story."

"No. I told you it was nothing."

"Why did you laugh then?"

"I didn't."

"Yes, you did!"

Rei sighed. His boss could turn out to be even more meddlesome than his fan girls sometimes. "If you don't mind, Sir, I still have these works you gave me." He gave his boss a nonchalant look, pointing at some heaps of cassettes and records with his right thumb.

"Oh, right." Rei's boss scratched his tasseled hair and turned around to leave the brown-haired guy. _He sure is incredibly shrewd at avoiding interesting topics._

Meanwhile, Rei's mind substantively stayed recalling that secretive 'something' while his hands were working on the cassettes. Of course, as an Ice Prince he had that typically high self esteem which protected him well from acknowledging things he did not want to say to other people.

Quit being a model to stay away from annoying fan girls for the sake of his girlfriend? Those annoying fan girls who even tried to take an opportunity at his workplace? Well, his boss just had no idea that his girlfriend used to be one of those girls who went to the record store to buy some records with a vivid, hidden motive—to meet him. He still remembered when she came all of a sudden to the record store at which he worked, insisting on purchasing a record even though he had told her she did not have to because he knew she was not into it.

_Speaking of Aya…I hadn't met her for about a week, I guess? _Rei thought inwardly, minding the fact that both of them were busy with their business lately—Rei with his works and Aya with her extra lessons.

Not long afterwards, Rei heard someone step towards the cash register, making him stand up. Before he could utter a word to offer a help, his lips unconsciously curved into a smirk when he faced the customer. _Today is such a funny day. _

"I didn't know you're interested in records that much." Rei said sarcastically to the certain beautiful dark-haired lass in front of him, whose hands were holding a record of jazz music tight. She merely simpered at him.

"For your information, this is for my cousin's birthday." Aya handed him the record and resumed, "She likes jazz a lot."

Rei put the record into a plastic bag and mentioned the price. After giving him cash, Aya thanked him and turned around to leave, making Rei quite puzzled a bit. _That's it? She must be in a hurry._

Rei told her, "I wish your cousin a happy birthday."

Aya blinked twice and nodded afterwards. She began walking but then she stopped at the third pace, much to Rei's astonishment. He became more flustered as she started muttering in such an inaudible voice. He could not really hear what she said but he swore she was talking to him. "Sorry, what did you say?"

"I…" Aya repeated, still facing him with her back. "…actually, I could have just purchased this one at the closest record store to my house."

Rei had his eyes grow wider at what Aya said. She stammered, "B-But still, I…w-well, I guess Otohata-kun has already understood what I mean, right?"

"No." Rei stated though he had obviously comprehended Aya's intention. "What is it?"

"Otohata-kun will get me wrong if I say it out loud." Aya blurted out innocently.

Rei replied, "I will if you don't."

It was a good thing that Aya was showing her boyfriend nothing but her back. He would probably be startled by her current boiled face which expressed a true anxiety. "I-I really wanted to see Otohata-kun." She finally conveyed it.

Apparently, it was not enough for the Ice Prince. "Me? Do you need something from me?"

Aya twitched. "N-Need?" She turned around and took two steps forward to the cash register. Finally, that was what he had been waiting for—getting her to face him. "We didn't see each other for a week."

Rei smirked. "I know. Thanks for coming."

"Uh?" Aya flickered. "But I'm literally disturbing Otohata-kun…I-I mean, Otohata-kun is very busy with his work and…"

"Never mind that." Rei patted her head. "Still, not meeting me for a week sure makes you more exaggerated than ever, huh?"

Shades of red enriched Aya's current blush, making her lower her face. "By tomorrow, I have two days off. I came here right after the class was dismissed."

"So you're not going to the extra lessons tomorrow?"

Aya nodded and smiled happily at him. Rei glanced at his watch and said, "My shift is over in one hour. Is it okay for you to wait?"

"Wait?"

"I'll take you home, if you're not in a hurry."

Aya turned expressively radiant at this. "No, I'm not! Sure, I can wait. But is it all right if I stay here for an hour? I'll be a real bother."

"Of course it's absolutely okay, Young Lady!" Rei's boss appeared all of a sudden. "While Rei's working, you can have some tea with me inside the worker's room. I'll keep you company."

Aya stared at Rei's boss guiltily. "But…no, you don't have to, Sir. I'm being troublesome already for coming here just to meet the busy Otohata-kun."

"I told you, it's all right!" Rei's boss patted Aya on the back. Then he leaned forward to the innocent lass and whispered slyly, "But there are a lot of things I want to know. About you and Rei, of course."

Rei, who seemed to be capable to predict what his boss was up to, grumpily reprimanded, "Sir, please don't ask her such unnecessary questions."

"Just go back to work, Rei." The tasseled boss shot Rei a glare while fixing his sunken sunglasses. Rei hurriedly got down to clear up his works, realizing that he had quite disregarded them. His boss held himself not to laugh at this and merely guided Aya to the worker's room to have a chit-chat he had been longing for.

* * *

After an hour of completing his works, Rei huffed and swiftly headed to the worker's room, expecting nothing troublous on his boss and his girlfriend's so-called 'tea time'. He cracked the door open and spoke, "Sir, I'm done. Thank you very much for taking care of Aya."

"You're done already? Gee, Aya-san is just about to tell me about the hottest part." Rei's boss mumbled.

_The hottest part? _Rei could not help but get surprised and irritated. "Sir—"

"Chill, will ya? I was just kidding." The tasseled old man stuck his tongue out at his employee and turned with a smile to Aya who was gesturing that she was going to leave. "She is such a good girl. Thanks a lot, Aya-san." He winked an eye at her.

Aya shook her head on the instant. "I should be the one thanking you! Thank you very much, Sir."

Rei exhaled a big sigh and simply nodded to his grinning boss. As the lovebirds left the room, the cagey boss created a grimace on his face and murmured to himself, "Really, I thought Rei's type would be more like happy-go-lucky ones who would not dare to tell how their love life went on so easily. She's way too pure."

Meanwhile, the spoken dark-haired girl sneezed when she was about to take the helmet Rei handed her. "Do you catch a cold?" Rei asked and Aya shook her head in response. As he was about to take off his jacket, she instantly tried to halt him, "N-No, I'm perfectly fine—O-Otohata-kun." Her pale face turned deep red as he gentlemanly put his jacket on her.

"A reward for visiting me today." Rei told her calmly while switching on his motorbike.

Aya's eyes softened at what the Ice Prince said. She smiled cloudlessly and hopped on, inhaling his usual ocean scent which now started to creep around her petite body.

"Tomorrow." Rei suddenly implied.

Aya blinked, getting bewildered. "Uh?"

"You're free tomorrow, right? Let's go out."

The beamed dark-haired girl merely grasped Rei's back shirt as he started gassing his motorbike and uttered childishly, "A lunch and a dinner in one day."

_What a girlfriend, _Rei amusedly thought. He replied in a satirical tone while driving straightly, "Breakfast sounds fine too."

* * *

**A/N: To make it clear, this 'Sugary Days' fundamentally contains short yet romantically simple sweets of Aya-ppe and Ototchi. I'm only telling you this since some reviewers tend to beg for long chapters, hehe:3**

**Big thanks to ilovepurple, kimxronx4eva, spacegirl2818, Melody of the sun, dyalicious, sakura bila-chan, nn-anom, dini, Kimchi, LuCapyon for reading and reviewing the previous chapter:)**

**To relugusgal, this story still takes place on Aya-ppe and Ototchi's high school life. High school romance is the cutest, don't cha think?^^ Well, since UI is always at the top three of Indonesians' best favorite Universities, so yeah, it always takes such enormously hard works. Thank you very much and good luck for you, too! :)**

**To deerburning, I'm taking psychology. Oh really? Destiny sure is the funniest thing:) Good luck with your study at Groningen^^ Thanks for reading and reviewing by the way:)**

**To Alice Jane, yep it's all right, thank youuuu very much for the feedbacks, dear^^My midterm tests are over and I have this sudden urge to release my stress in FFN so…let's see if I can grant your wishful expectation:p**

**Since most of you reviewed anonymously, I had to reply your comments here. Sorry for the inconvenience and thanks for supporting me:)**

**The next chapter will be about their morning-to-night (?) date:) Do review, please? **

**Chiby Angel-chan**


	4. All Day Long

**Disclaimer: GALS! © Mihona Fujii**

* * *

Another peaceful morning at Otohata's residence.

It should have been a new, refreshing morning since the only son in the house, Rei, finally got a chance to spend one day long with his beautiful "mole" after not seeing each other for a week.

Sadly, it seemed like the number one Meishou champion had unintentionally let his guard down that he failed to anticipate an unexpected happening. How he regretted the fact that he admitted his plan to take Aya out from the morning.

He was with her, yes—but here, in his house, in the morning. Already.

"Now, now, Rei! What's the face? Mother just wants you two to fill up your energies with her special breakfast before you start the day together!" Mrs. Otohata spoke in such an oblivious manner. "Here, Mother has also baked these fresh sugar-free cookies for both of you!"

The said guy merely kept his mouth shut and turned his face to the dark-haired girl sitting in front of him instead. He sighed and gave her a gesture to take the meal first, which she immediately refused as she shook her head. Seeing that, Mrs. Otohata bent down to face the girl, "Don't be shy, Aya-chan. It'd be very rude to waste such a special dish I have prepared in this early morning, right?

"And in this early morning _you_ have selfishly made Aya come here while we've already had another plan, Mother," Rei grumbled, popping up a vein. "So would you please leave us now and let us have this _special_ breakfast of yours?"

"Aw, talk about being rude. Quit being sarcastic to your mother, Rei," Mrs. Otohata stuck her tongue out at her icy son and patted Aya on the shoulder before taking a leave. "I was just kidding, by the way. Well, enjoy your meal!"

Rei heaved a long sigh in relief as his persistent mother left the dining room. Then he faced his girlfriend again. "Sorry, Aya. My mother became exaggeratedly fired up when I informed her that I was going out with you from the morning until the evening. She insisted that it should be your turn to have your breakfast here since I once had breakfast at your home."

"I-It's all right, really." Aya uttered with a chuckle interspacing her words, "Well, even though it was quite surprising when Otohata-kun's mother phoned me earlier."

"Yeah, she forcefully took my cell phone to call you up." Rei shrugged and began taking a spoon of cream soup. Aya did the same afterwards and gasped in awe after taking a sip. "This tastes very…good."

"It's just the usual creamy mushroom soup my mother always cooks every week, actually…"

"No, I'm telling the truth." Aya beamed, giggling in excitement. "I should ask Otohata-kun's mother about the recipe later."

Rei blinked. "Just so you know, this soup doesn't seem to be one of those dietetic foods."

"M-Mou, Otohata-kun…" Aya sharpened her sight to her boyfriend while blushing furiously.

Unknown to the young couple, another (older) couple watched them from the back of the door. Mr. Otohata sweat dropped and murmured to his wife, "I'm famished. Why won't you let me in? I want my breakfast as well."

"And missing this unusual scene of our only son? Be patient, okay?" Mrs. Otohata whispered back with a sly smile on her face. "See how bright Rei is now."

Mr. Otohata fixed up his glasses and took a better look at Rei who was currently wiping Aya's nose with a napkin. "I can't argue with that but…look, I'm still starving, okay?" He said as his stomach started growling in a loud voice, getting Aya and Rei to notice the presence of the elder couple at the back of the door.

Mrs. Otohata narrowed her eyes at her husband fretfully. Mr. Otohata could only smile awkwardly as his son and his future daughter-in-law began staring at him as well with such an astonished expression.

"Um…good morning, you two."

* * *

At least for now, the haughty Rei Otohata had to thank God from the bottom part of his heart for the glorious weather that day. After finishing up their breakfast, Rei and Aya left to fulfill their date which had been ruined slightly by Rei's mother—much to his irritation. But seeing Aya joyfully ate up the breakfast, looking grateful for every single bite of it that she bluntly asked for the recipe to Mrs. Otohata, Rei could not help but feel a bit relieved.

As the two of them kept on pacing, Aya initiated a conversation, "Where are we going today, Otohata-kun?"

"Want to go to the bookshop as usual?" Rei asked back.

Aya instantly shook her head. "Just for today, I want to keep my mind off the books."

Rei gazed at her bewilderedly. "Are you sure?"

"I had passed that gloomy one week long with heaps of books devotedly." Aya sighed in frustration. "Perhaps Otohata-kun wants to visit the center record store of Shibuya?"

It was Rei's turn to sigh wearily. "That's where I spent most of my latest one week."

"Otohata-kun gets tired of records?" Aya asked disbelievingly with an innocent face.

Rei smirked. "It's the synonym of _'Aya gets tired of books'_, isn't it?"

Aya blushed at what the Ice Prince said and quickly changed the subject, "What about…mm, just walking around Shibuya? I-I don't really have any place that I want to go to right now except tonight but…"

"Tonight? Where?"

"U-Um, it's a secret! It's a place for dinner. I'll tell Otohata-kun later," Aya replied nervously. "So if Otohata-kun has an idea where to go now, I'll be okay with it."

"I initially wanted to go to the bookstore but…" Rei scratched the back of his head and added, "…since you said that you wanted to avoid books today then I guess walking around Shibuya is fine."

"I-Is that so? I'm so sorry! Is there any book that Otohata-kun has to buy right away?"

"Not really."

"I-I'm sorry if today's date ends up boring."

"There you go again."

Hearing that, Aya shook her head and mustered up her confidence to say, "B-But for me, even just standing quietly with Otohata-kun by my side is more than enough to make me happy."

Instead of getting carried away, Rei sweat dropped at what she said. "So simplistic."

"Uh? What?" Aya blinked twice.

"It's nothing."

The dark-haired girl merely cracked a wide smile. "By the way, how is Otohata-kun's work at the night club going along lately?"

"My work? Nothing special, as always."

"Mm, but isn't work in the midnight messing up Otohata-kun's regular sleep pattern?"

"Now that you mention it…" Rei pondered for a few seconds. "I'm not working at the club as often as I am at the record store. So I have no problem with that."

"I see…" Aya lowered her face and tried to find things to talk about as many as possible, seeing that their current plan was nothing but walking around. _I-It'd be very awkward if we kept silent…_

"Aya."

"Y-Yes?"

"I just got an idea. Instead of Shibuya, why don't we visit Ikebukuro?"

Aya beamed on the instant. "Sure! We'd hung out to Shibuya too often anyway."

"But we have to go by train, though…"

"No problem, totally not a problem." Aya asserted with an exuberant smile, thinking mirthfully, _Otohata-kun and me…traveling by train, just the two of us…even though it's just Ikebukuro…_

Seeing Aya remained giggling and having such a jovial expression, Rei raised a brow and asked, "Are you looking forward to visiting Ikebukuro that much?"

"Uh? Well, yes, kind of…" Aya giggled again. "It's just that…it'll be the first time we go by train together—I-I mean, just the two of us…isn't it?"

Rei did not give an immediate answer, making Aya wondered. "Uh? Don't tell me that…it's not?"

"It feels like I had seen Aya in a railway coach alone once."

"F-For real? When?"

"Hm…"

"Are you sure, Otohata-kun?"

"I don't know."

"O-Otohata-kun…"

Rei just had no idea how glad Aya was that they could finally chat and act so naturally toward each other just now. Probably that was because Rei had always simply felt that even their usual awkwardly silent atmosphere was something natural between the two of them. As long as there was still a smile on Aya's face—even in silence—it would always be a normal moment for Rei.

And he liked it.

* * *

As soon as they arrived at the train station, Aya was startled by Rei's warm, big hand which suddenly grabbed her puny one so tight. She could not help but turn her sight to his direction, only to get him to notice her gaze at him in a shake.

"What's wrong?" asked Rei.

"I-It's nothing."

They went to purchase the tickets while Rei was muttering, "The train station is getting more crowded since it's holiday, so be careful."

"U-Um." Aya nodded. _Oh, then he's holding my hand so we won't be separated in the crowds, _she thought in a slight disappointment.

After ten minutes of waiting, the train heading to Ikebukuro arrived. Apparently, the train was not as full as the two of them expected it would be that they could still find empty seats here and there. Even so, Rei was not letting go of Aya's hand, much to Aya's astonishment. Aya turned away her face from Rei and shifted her gaze around the room of the railway wagon, finding some women cast a glance in rapture towards the calm but super good-looking Rei. She was used to it but the fact that some of them—who seemed to be Rei's fan girls from Ikebukuro—shot her an irked glare while whispering to each other could not help freaking her out.

_W-What's with this lethal aura? Even gals in Shibuya never looked at me that way. _Aya thought apprehensively. Cold sweat began running down her skin, including her wrapped palm. Rei, feeling the sudden cold sensation on Aya whose hand was being held by him, asked questioningly, "The AC is turned on and you're sweating. Are you sure there's nothing wrong?"

Aya nodded and slowly freed her palm from Rei's grip. "Mm, I think I'm just a little tired of standing."

Rei turned out to feel somewhat guilty at this. "Oh, sorry, just sit down. I like standing near the entrance door better like this."

"I-It's okay." Aya stammered and took the closest seat to where Rei was standing. She hesitantly took a glimpse of the fan girls who glowered evilly at her earlier to make sure that her decision not to get too close to Rei followed their expectation. Thank God, it did. Those fan girls did not even look at her anymore. She could finally breathe.

* * *

"I went to Ikebukuro several times to get schoolbooks. But it was a long time ago, though. What about Otohata-kun?"

The couple just left the east exit of the Ikebukuro Station and reached the downtown, much to Aya's dismay. She prayed inwardly that they would not meet such scary fan girls anymore.

"Once," Rei replied. "I had a photo shoot at the Sunshine City with Yuuya once."

"Oh, speaking of Second Place-kun...it's very possible that we will meet him here with Mami-rin, right?" Aya chuckled. "Sunshine City? I'd never been there before."

Rei automatically offered, "Want to go there?"

"Yes!" Aya gave a cheerful response. Not long afterwards, they were staggered by an appearance of a long, long black limousine in their way all of a sudden. Of course, it was unquestionably easy to guess who the owner was.

The Ice Prince sweat dropped. "Talk about a predictable event…"

As the limousine halted, the said couple hopped out. Noticing the presence of the two of his friend, Yuuya greeted them with a questioning tone, "Rei? Aya-chan?"

"Yo." Rei greeted.

"_Are? _It's so unusual to see the two of you hanging out here," said Mami in a puzzled look. "If you're going to the Sunshine City, you'd better go look for some other alternatives. It's tremendously crowded there that even Yuuya and I had to cancel our plan to go there."

Frankly, Mami's information was a shock for Aya. "R-Really? Is it _that _bad?"

"How did you know that we're heading to the Sunshine City?" Rei questioned.

"That's simple. It has become the first stop at Ikebukuro to visit during the holiday. Gee, just in time when I have this urge to take photos with Yuuya at the Sunshine Aquarium." Mami huffed. "By the way, if you're craving for high-grade yet cheap foods, I recommend the ramen."

"R-Ramen? N-no, anything but that!" Aya instantly defied, making the other three flustered.

Yuuya asked, "You dislike ramen, Aya-chan?"

"No, it's not like that," Aya shook her head and asked again with a gauche smile, "A-At any rate, Mami-rin, what about Marui Department Store?"

Mami put her fingertip on her chin and thought for a while. "Hm, I think it's not as crowded as the Sunshine City now…"

"Aya wants to go there?" Rei asked his girlfriend.

"Mm, if it's fine for Otohata-kun as well…"

"Well then, we're going there." Rei stated. He turned around and waved his hand at Yuuya and Mami. "See ya, you two."

"Thank you very much, Mami-rin, Second Place-kun." Aya bowed before taking a leave.

Aya cantered to Rei who was walking ahead. "Let's have lunch there as well."

"Before that…" Rei talked out of the blue. "…what's with the ramen?"

To Rei's perplexity, the question stroke Aya. "Eh? It's nothing! Nothing, absolutely nothing."

_It is obviously something, _Rei thought skeptically.

Again, Aya purposively changed the subject, "I want to buy some accessories for Ran. She's really excited about her upcoming birthday."

Rei sweat dropped, imagining how the so-called world's greatest gal drooled unstoppably for free birthday presents. "Sure she is."

"Otohata-kun has something to buy for Ran's birthday present too?"

"No, I'm not good at buying presents."

Aya was silenced at the moment. Of course that was exactly not the answer Aya hopefully expected to come from Rei's mouth. _Because he's not good…then if he was…uh, what am I thinking? Snap out of it._

"Mm, it's her seventeenth birthday, so she's trying so hard to save her money to throw a birthday party." Aya resumed, "I mean, we just can't let Ran down for her struggling on something that she can barely do every day, can we?"

Rei turned to face Aya with a total wonder. "You sound like a mother feeling guilty towards her daughter."

"Uh…" Aya flushed.

"Aya will choose the present but I'll also do the half-pay," Rei suggested. "So it's one present from Aya and me."

Aya's heart skipped a beat for what Rei said. Even if it has no significant meaning, Aya could not help feeling swept out of the _"Aya and me" _Rei uttered earlier. She had always thought that giving a present on behalf of two names was usually done by married couples—despite the truth that Rei offered a joint venture since he was simply lazy to buy presents by himself.

"This is the place, right?" Rei stopped pacing as the two just arrived at Marui Department Store. Aya answered with a nod.

As Rei was about to take a step forward, Aya called, "Otohata-kun."

"Hm?"

"I like Otohata-kun…" Aya declared bluntly, shades of red on her cheeks were brightly visible. "…so much."

Unfortunately, the usual Ice Prince did not even change his expressionless face. "That's random. Let's go." He said nonchalantly, taking Aya by the hand. They walked inside the department store.

"Otohata-kun, you're sweating."

"I'm not."

"Mm. This hand that is holding mine, it's sweating."

"It's not."

Aya bubbled with laughter. "Yes, it is."

* * *

The two took a train again to go back after spending a long afternoon in Ikebukuro. It was seven in the evening and Rei began feeling sleepy, despite standing casually near the entrance door as always. Aya, noticing his condition, worriedly asked, "Otohata-kun, want to take a brief sleep?" She tapped the empty seat beside her.

"No, thanks." Rei gave a simple reply. "Where is this recommended dinner place of yours located, Aya?"

"Oh, it's near my house. I'm sure Otohata-kun will love it."

Rei blinked. "Since even you look so confident about that, I guess I will."

"W-What's that 'even you' supposed to mean?" Aya puffed up her cheeks.

"Is it ramen?" Rei asked again. Like a mind-reading wizard, he already knew that Aya would respond with an astounded face.

"H-How did Otohata-kun…" Aya stuttered, "…d-don't tell me that Otohata-kun's already eaten there before?"

Rei suppressed a chuckle. "Aya's factious rejection against ramen this afternoon explained everything."

The dark-haired girl felt her face heating up. "Mou…I intended it to be a surprise. B-But it's the best ramen, really. Otohata-kun won't be disappointed."

"Yes, yes." Rei let his chuckle slip out this time.

Aya chuckled too, still blushing in embarrassment. Then her eyes softened as she caught a glimpse of a small box inside her handbag. _I can't wait to give Ran this present…_

Just then, Aya got her heart skipping a beat as Rei suddenly sat down beside her and rested his head on her left shoulder. "Wake me up when we arrive." He demanded under his breath.

As the dark brown-haired guy shut his eyelids with folded arms, Aya curved a bashful smile on her face and slowly took one of his arms for her to hold. She felt indescribably safe just by having him this close to her even when he was asleep.

"Otohata-kun."

"Hmm?"

"I'm so happy today."

"Mm…sure." Rei said drowsily and fixed his position, pulling Aya into his hug tightly. Aya lost her breath for a few seconds.

_What am I, a teddy bear? _Aya giggled in joy, in spite of her jumping blissful heartbeats. However, she stopped giggling on the line right when she noticed the familiar deadly glares of Otohata-kun's fan girls to her direction. Apparently, those fan girls had been in the same train as the two of them again from the start. How could she notice them just now? Her heart tugged rapidly in a negative way this time.

_Oh, Otohata-kun, please wake up. _

* * *

**A/N: Okay, sorry again for the very late update. And I'm so sorry to say that I'm seriously starting to experience a writer's block. Believe me, I watched the anime series again to boost my mood and get some fresh inspirations just to complete this chapter. But GALS! fandom sure is real slacking, huh? That explains the domination of anonymous reviewers for this story, hehe. But that's TOTALLY okay as long as you're not being a silent reader!^^ FYI, silent readers accelerate the hit of writer's block. Literally.**

**Special thanks to poopy, xxx, dini, Alice Jane, spacegirl2818, nn-anom, WoofQuack'ed MeowRoar, ilovepurple, Gouto Michiko, Kimchi, dyalicious, kimxronx4eva for reviewing the previous chapter^^If it was not because of the supports you gave me in your reviews, there would be no update for sure:" So thank youuu so much! **

**By the way, I just noticed that the new review box below makes it easier to post feedbacks. FFN rocks! So yeah, thanks for your attention and please review to at least help me get rid of this stupid writer's block. Okay, that's so oppressive of me, sorry. And oh, I'm sorry for all my mistakes and human errors by the way. Hehe. The next chapter would probably be the last one with an epilogue coming afterwards. Ja! **

**Chiby Angel-chan **


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